Home
by Wazgood529
Summary: Fairy tale characters are real, they're immortal, rich, famous, and everyone loves them. Well everyone except for 13 year old Emma, who wants nothing to do with them. All she cares about is finding her parents and surviving foster care. One day these famous characters come to her school! That is all I'm saying, you'll have to read in order to find out more. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Hey guys I wanted to fix how all those letters were in between this story so I posted tit again. I want to let you know my beta and I are working on the third chapter for this story and I have been a little busy with school but I would love reviews to help inspire me to write faster. Thanks hope you enjoy**

Fairytale characters are real! They're immortal, famous, wealthy, pretty, and envied by everyone. Well not me, I think they're annoying. People treat them like they're gods, when they're just people. Sure they're immortal, they get the forever happy ending people dream of, but they're still people! They bleed the same red color blood that we do, as far as I know anyway.

"Emma!"

I cringed at the irritating sound of my foster sister Megan. Megan was the complete opposite of me in every way. She was a chatterbox, while I was the quiet type. She was really popular at home, and our foster parents adored her in every way. Megan was sure that our foster parents would adopt her, she was such a suck up. My foster sister had short black hair just to her shoulders, and light blue eyes, she had a perfect tan and a body figure that didn't make her look like she was 13. Hell she could pass off as a 15 or 16 year old easily with enough make-up, heals, and the right outfit.

As for me well I was pretty average. I had the typical unexciting body of a 13 year old girl. My long blonde hair could never be tamed so I gave up on that years ago and just leave it at its naturally curly self. I guess I could say that I do like my green eyes. They're pretty, some people have even said that my eyes reminded them of a green forest, weird but nice I guess.

"Emma!" Megan comes walking into our bedroom with a big grin on her face.

"What Meg, you know I'm in here getting ready for school. Why do you have to keep calling my name" I said bitterly. I wasn't a morning person. Looking at the mirror I take one last look at my outfit for the day. I wore my faded washed out jeans, a black shirt that said "Not a Fairytale Fan, and Proud of it". I grinned at my shirt, my foster family thought it was immature to use my chores allowance money on such a disrespectful shirt, but I liked it. I wore my favorite black boots that I saved up for through months of babysitting, and chores, as well as my favorite red leather jacket that I had personally paid for.

"Emma you can't be serious about wearing that shirt to school!" Megan said in disgust, ignoring my complaint from before.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yes, because your outfit is much more appropriate for a 13 year old"

Megan was wearing a short red skirt, a white spaghetti strap top, and red matching heels. "Don't sound so old Emma, lots of girls our age wear stuff like this. There is more to fashion than just jeans and t-shirts you know" she argues with a huff.

I shake my head. "Whatever, what were you calling for me just moments ago for anyway?" I asked as I go to my twin size bed and grab my yellow backpack off my bed. Megan and I shared a room. It was an average size room, with two twin size beds. There were two desk in the room, Megan's was on the far right side of her bed. Her desk just inches away from the window view, there was another window on my side of the room where my desk sat, they were both wooden desk. To the right side of the room passed Megan's desk was a huge walk in closet where all of our clothes could fit, not that I had much like Megan. I wasn't really one for shopping, I liked comfort over fashion. Across from our beds was a nice big dresser that had a mirror, and on the left side of the room across from my desk in the corner was an oval shape mirror.

"Omg did you get the email from school? We have fairytale characters visiting our school today!" she squeals like a banshee.

My ears nearly felt like bleeding from the horrid sound. "Megan!" I yelled as I covered my ears. She rolled her eyes but thankfully stopped squealing. "Why would a bunch of fairytale characters bother coming to our school?" I asked. I readjusted my backpack so that it was hanging on one shoulder lazily as I sat down on my bed and listen to my foster sister ramble on.

"Apparently they're going to give a big history lesson on some of the most famous characters! Everyone is then going to be tested on some pretty tough questions, they're going to be questions that the most common folk wouldn't know, you will have to sit through the lesson and pay close attention to every detail of their stories. Whoever gets the highest score on the exam will get to spend an entire week with the characters on Storybrooke island!" she squeals again and I can't help but cringe. "But it also said that the likely hood of anyone getting a 100 on the exam would be very small"

"Great so that means I'll be hearing people like you squeal all day" I said unenthusiastically.

"You better change that shirt Emma! What if a fairytale character sees you wearing it, everyone at school will think you're mental" She ignores my complaint again.

I rolled my eyes. "Believe it or not Megan, not everyone loves fairytale characters"

"What's not to like about them!? They're immortal, they're famous, rich, kind, and they give to so many charities and help so many people. Oh I hope Snow White will be there! I love her story the best, and she even has an archery classes on her island. I'm definitely going to ask mom and dad to send me to her classes this summer!" She says excitedly.

I glared at my foster sister. "Don't call them mom and dad" I said annoyed as I finally stood myself up. I was tired of hearing my foster sister talk, I wanted to leave.

"I've already called them mom and dad to their faces, they were both practically balling with joy. I have a feeling they're going to adopt me on my birthday, it's just a week away you know" She grins obnoxiously.

"If you want those people to be your parents fine, but I'll never call them mom and dad" I said bitterly.

She frowns. "Why are you being such a grouch Emma, they aren't bad people. In fact this is the best home I've ever been in"

I shake my head at this girl's blind ignorance. She had no idea why I hated these people, sure this may not have been the worst home I've been in. But this certainly wasn't the best either. "I'm going to get some breakfast, you can stay up here and squeal about those fairytale characters if you want"

"Wait Emma you have to change that shirt!" She cries but I ignore her and make my way down the stairs.

"Good morning girls" Mrs. Summerfield smiles. Seriously what kind of last name is Summerfield? She is a woman in her late 30s, she has short dark brown hair to her shoulders, light hazel green eyes, a decent tan, and she had the perfect hour glass figure. Her husband Mr. Summerfield was tall, over 6ft at least. Unlike his wife who was barely 5ft 2inches. He had short black hair, and dark brown eyes. He owned a bar in Boston, the city we lived in. The bar itself was only just a few minute drive from here. Mrs. Summerfield was a freshman high school teacher, she worked at the high school that was right next to the middle that Megan and I went to.

"Morning mom, can you tell Emma that she can't wear that horrid shirt!" Megan begs as she points to me with disgust.

I rolled my eyes and took my seat at the table far from Mr. Summerfield and closer to Mrs. S. I didn't like either of them, but I hated Mr. S more. It's not like he ever touched me or anything, but he wasn't kind to me either. I don't know why, he just seems to really favor Megan.

Mrs. S chuckles as Megan took her seat next to Mr. S. "Now Megan, Emma is old enough to decide what she wants to wear" Mrs. S replies.

"Yeah but the fairytale characters are coming to our school today, what if they see Emma's shirt. What if they know we're foster sisters and they think I hate them too!" She cries dramatically. I simply ignored the fact that she is talking as if I wasn't right there listening, and dug into my pancakes. I hated to admit, but Mrs. S really knew how to cook. I always savior food that was given to me, cause I never knew when Mr. S would be in one of his moods and band me from a meal or two.

"I know, they're coming to the high school to tomorrow as well" Mrs. S smiles.

"If Emma wants to risk getting hate and disgust from the fairytale characters, then whatever the outcome will be because of the actions she chose" Mr. S said while not taking his eyes off the newspaper, his plate already empty.

"Sounds good to me" I grinned as I took another bite of my yummy pancakes.

"Honestly you're unbelievable. Do you even know how amazing it would be to be friends, or even acquaintances with just one fairytale character! If you get an autograph or even a picture with them, that alone is like worth $1000!"

I just shrugged and continued to eat my food, she huffed an irritation but started to eat her pancakes. Honestly I didn't care about money, fame, immortality, I didn't want any of it. All I wanted I was to find my parents one day. That was my only mission in life, I couldn't wait till I turned 18 and I was out of the system for good. I gave up a long time ago of ever being adopted. It was only a matter of time before these people got tried me.

When we were done with breakfast Mrs. S drove us to the middle school, and Mr. S headed off to work. He usually worked the day shifts during the week, and the night shifts during the weekend.

"You girls have fun, and Megan if you run into any of the characters?"

"Try and get a picture with them, or an autograph! You bet mom! Bye!" She waves as Mrs. S drives over to the high school.

Megan turns to face me and her sweet energetic face turned cold, not that I was surprised by the instant change in her attitude. "Remember Emma, we don't talk to each other in school. And you better not tell a fairytale character that we're foster sisters" she warns.

"Scouts honor" I grin sarcastically as I do the scouts honor signature sign.

She rolls her eyes and quickly dashes off ahead of me into the old brick building. I shake my head and yawn tiredly. The last few nights haven't been the best, I've been dealing with nightmares which isn't anything new. But whenever the nightmares happen it's usually a warning sign that something is about to change. Probably means my foster family is going to send me back to the orphanage soon. I try to shake the unsettling feeling away, but it still lingers. Honestly I really didn't want to go to school today. What was the point of these fairytale lectures anyway? Was it so that their fans could only continue to love them like gods more. I shake my head at the idea, which was stupid. They were more famous than normal celebrities any day. People followed them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Megan told me how Snow White has videos on her archery class so that people who can't afford to go to her summer lessons, or live too far away way, can learn from her videos on how to be a good archery. That was kind of cool I guess, but I don't think I would be very good at archery. Megan keeps begging our foster parents for bow an arrows for her birthday so she could become as good as Snow White. Doubt that could ever happen.

I sigh as I see more students walking in, gossiping and chatting away with their friends. Guess I can't avoid it anymore. It wasn't that I hated school, actually I loved to study, I loved doing homework and taking exams. School has always been a distraction from my rotten home life. Even though I am constantly changing schools, teachers are always surprised that I score high on exams and never seem to be behind. Truth is I spend my time at a library whenever I can, ever since I was small the library was always a sanctuary for me. When I was a kid I read some fantasy fairytales, but when I realized that happy endings don't happen to people like me I started to hate them and the characters. So I started to read all kinds of text books when I was just seven years old. I would read math, science, English, history, etc. If there was something I didn't understand I would either ask the librarian, or simply look stuff up on one of the computers at the library to help me understand something difficult.

As I begin to walk to the school I pray that I don't run into a fairytale character outside of class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Hope you enjoy**

I was at my locker gathering the books I needed for my morning classes, and putting away my homework assignments for my later classes away for now. First class was history, I prayed that we didn't have a fairytale character in history class at least. That was one of my favorite subjects. I was really good at memorizing dates, events, names and such, numbers was another specialty of mine. Although I have all As, I do struggle with science at times, and creative writing. I hate creative writing, most of the time we have to think up our own stories and I wasn't very good in that department. I didn't have a huge imagination, because I preferred facts. I guess it was crazy not to have an imaginative mind in during these times, ever since it had become known that fairytale characters were real about 100 years ago.

I close my locker once I had everything I needed, and let out a tired yawn. What I wouldn't give for a night without nightmares. But until whatever is supposed to happen, I'll keep having them. I hate how they're nothing but a bad warning sign, warning me that something is going to change in my life. Although I hated this foster home, it would have been nice to finish one year in the same school for once. I shake my head trying to get my mind off of something I had no control of. It was going to be a long day and I needed to be focused.

The hallway was starting to fill up with students, and I wanted to escape, I hated crowds. I had a good 15 minutes before 1st period so I decided to get some reading done in the library. The library was almost always empty before 1st period. Not even the old librarian would be in yet.

I was happy to see the empty library once I had finally made my way inside. It was an average size library, and the collection was pretty good. I made my way to the end of the room where there was a circle of four comfy cushion chairs, in the center of the chairs was a round wooden table. People liked to try and get this spot during the day in order to study and get school work done with friends. It was either this spot, or you'd have to sit at one of the three long tables to the right of the room. The chairs were wooden and pretty uncomfortable for most students, it didn't help that they were old and some needed to be replaced. In front of the tables and throughout the rest of the room were the bookshelves, and books. Beside the tables to the right of them were the restrooms.

I sat myself down onto the chair and got myself comfy. Sitting my backpack onto the floor I pulled out my Diary of Anne Frank book. I was reading it for my history class, we we're learning about the holocaust and Mr. Freeman gave us a book report to do on Anne Frank. We got the book yesterday and the book report is due next Monday. Thankfully it's only Tuesday.

Mr. Freeman was a great teacher, he was one of those teachers that actually loved to teach and got you excited to learn. I loved being able to talk with him about different history topics during my free study period. He was one of the few adults in my life that I didn't feel like I had to keep my guard up. He was a man in his late 50s, he already had grey hair showing on his once dark black hair, and he needed to wear glasses because the vision in his light blue eyes was slowly going. He wouldn't become completely blind, but his eye sight is not as strong as it used to be. Mr. Freeman was like a grandfather figure I imagine a grandfather would be like, he was kind, he doesn't ask me questions about my past, and he keeps my mind busy with my studies. I think he knows that school work helps me keep my mind off of my rotten home life.

Within five minutes I had really gotten absorbed into the book. I didn't want to put it down, but my peaceful moment was ruined by a familiar voice.

"I knew you'd be here Emma"

I looked up to see 12 year old Neal. Despite his crappy background he was able to skip the fifth grade. He was pretty smart, and loved to read just as much as I did. But unlike me he loved to read about fairytales and magic. Well the moment hadn't been completely ruined, I did enjoy spending time with Neal. He was a foster kid like me, he was small for his size though, about an inch or two smaller than myself. He said he's been in homes where he would be forced without meals for days, I knew what that was like. Thankfully I was good at stealing food, I knew how to stay in shape so my height is pretty average for my age. Neal has only just recently started to become a decent thief thanks to my teachings.

"Hey Neal" I frowned when I noticed he was wearing a long sleeve dark blue sweater. "Are you hiding marks again?" I asked him.

He shrugs as he takes a seat next to me. "You know how he gets when he drinks" Neal was talking about his foster dad.

"Want me to put him in his place?" I asked with a smirk, closing my book and placing it on my lap.

He rolls his eyes. "Always trying to be the savior huh Emma? It's best to leave this alone though, I don't want to be sent away. If I do then I won't get to be spend time with you anymore, we'll probably never see each other again" He says with sadness.

It would be hell being separated, I'd never really been friends with other foster kids. Sure I'd stick up for the younger foster siblings in the bad homes, but we were never really friends. Just kids trying to survive. Neal was my first real friend. I meant him about 6 months ago when first came to this school and started living with Mr. and Mrs. Summerfield.

"So did you hear about the fairytale characters?" I asked, wanting to change the subject that we both knew we had no control over.

"Duh, the whole school knows about them coming today! I would love to meet red riding hood" He grins.

"Red riding hood, why her?" I asked curiously.

"Because she can turn into a wolf! I mean what's cooler than that?" he asks. Neal absolutely loved wolves, he was really good at drawing them. He really wanted to make graphic novels about them someday.

I rolled my eyes, I should have guessed. "Well I don't want to meet any of them" I said with an irritated huff.

"Awe come on Emma, I have a feeling you'd actually get along with some of them. Especially the evil queen, you and her sort have some things in common" He points out.

I blink surprised by the statement, I honestly wasn't familiar with the real stories of these immortals, just some of the old classical versions I read years ago. "Isn't the evil queen from Snow White, the one who poisoned her step daughter because she was jealous of her beauty" I frowned at being compared to such a vain character.

He shakes his head. "This is why you really need to read the newer versions of their stories Emma. The evil queen didn't poison Snow White out of jealously…." He told me the story about Regina, and though I hate to admit it, it was pretty interesting. I guess these stories weren't as black and white as I remembered. Still, it didn't matter. In the long run the evil queen changed her ways for her son, and got her happy ending as well. The story may have been different, but these immortal characters always got what they wanted in the end. Someone like me would never be truly happy, honestly I'd be lucky if I survived the system till I could finally age out of it.

"It doesn't matter, she still got her happy ending right? Happy endings don't happened to people like you and me Neal. We don't get to live with people who really want us, or see us as family. We have to do what we can just to survive. If that foster father of yours hits you one more time, you need to run Neal. I don't care where you run to, but you can't stay with a man like that. Trust me the violence is only going to get worse" I warned him. I didn't want anything to happen to Neal. He was a good kid, he didn't deserve this kind of life.

He frowns. "But I can't leave you behind Emma" The boy argues.

I give him a sad smile. "I'm sure our paths will cross again someday, but if you get killed by that bastard then we'll never get to meet each other again"

"I don't think he would ever kill me, maybe break a few bones if things got really bad. But I don't think he would kill me"

"You don't know that!" I yelled as I stood up in anger. "Adults who become alcoholics are idiots, they don't know how to control their anger" My body was shaking with rage, but I couldn't help it. Neal didn't understand how dangerous his foster father could become.

"Ok, ok. I promise if things get really bad I'll run. But not without saying goodbye" He says as he also stood himself up.

I allow myself to calm down and give him another sad smile. "You really are an idiot for a genius sometimes you know" I sit back down now that I am no longer shaking. And pick up my book that had fallen to the floor. How is it that he always knew how to calm me down so damn easily?

He gives me a big smile as he also sits back down in his seat next to me. "Well at least I'm a smart idiot. Oh yeah I was able to steal some goods this morning when my foster dad was still passed out from a night of drinking" He pulls out two chocolate candy bars and hands one over to me. "I don't think he'll even remember that he bought these yesterday" He laughed.

"Thanks, I'll save it for later" I grinned and placed it into my backpack.

I randomly glanced at a clock to the left side of me hanging on the wall. Damn only 5 minutes before the bell would ring. "I guess we should get going, the bell will be ringing soon" I said.

He nods and we both stand back up with our backpacks over our shoulder, after I had placed my book back into my backpack. "So Emma, you have to have a favorite character" Neal teases as we walk out of the library.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you need to read the shirt?" I pointed to my shirt with my cocky grin. He laughed and just shook his head.

When we made it to history the bell had ringed and Mr. Freeman was organizing some paper work, then placed them inside his desk. He looked up and smiled at Neal and I. "Good morning you two, I trust my best students have already started reading the Diary of Anne Frank?"

Neal nods. "I'm already passed 40 pages" he announced proudly.

He laughs. "Well that's great to hear. I'm sure you both already know about the fairytale characters coming in today" he adds.

"Please tell me there not coming into this class to!?" I groaned.

The old man chuckles. "You will be seeing at least one or two fairytale characters in all of your classes today" He explained.

"Will Red riding hood be one of them!?" Neal questions with hopeful eyes.

He shrugs. "You'll just have to wait and see" Pretending to act like he didn't know anything.

"So we have to take an exam in every class today?" I huffed irritated.

"The exams are for fun, you won't be graded on them" Mr. Freeman tried to make things sound better for me. He knew my distaste for fairytales.

"This whole thing sounds like a waste of time. Why should we have to sacrifice a whole day of learning important material, over listening to some old fairytales?"

"It's meant to be a day of fun. You told me once that you only knew some of the old classic stories right? Well think of this as a history lesson. A whole day of history lessons" The old teachers smiles.

I give him a confused look. "What do you mean?" I titled my head curiously.

"Well, these fairytale characters are going to be telling their stories about their time in the enchanted forest right, and possibly other realms as well? They'll be talking about their past, and stuff that aren't even in books yet. Only someone who is either a hug dedicated fan, or someone who's really good at remembering facts about someone or something would be able to pass these exams with a 100. Some of these questions are going to be hard, even for the most dedicated fans. In order to pass exams like these, one has to have excellent memory. And we all know how good your memory skills are Emma" He smiles.

"Yea Mr. Freeman is right. You get As on every exam you take, and you hardly even ever have to study. I may be a genius, but I have to work hard for my grades. I bet you could skip a few grades easy if you wanted to" Neal praised.

I shook my head. "I don't want to skip grades and be with older kids. But I do like the idea of seeing these stories as a history lesson. All right, maybe I'll try and pass these exams just to tick off some fans who really want to be with these fairytale characters. Plus a week vacation on an island does sound awesome, even if I have to be surrounded by immortals" I grinned.

"Oh there's Emma evil wicked mind showing" Neal laughs.

"Well Megan would definitely be pissed if I won and she didn't"

"It's always good to have goals" Mr. Freeman chuckles as he shakes his head.

At this point in time other students were starting to show up. "I would love to see the look on Megan's face if you really won" Neal continued to laugh as we took our usual front row seats, side by side. "Just promise to get me an autograph from Red riding hood if you win"

"You might win to, you're just as smart as I am" I reminded the boy.

He shook his head. "Sure I do great on exams if I have time to study, but my short term memory skills aren't nearly as great as yours, combined with your long term memory skills as well" He explained.

It was true, my memory skills have always been pretty good since I was a kid. In some foster homes I wasn't allowed to have books with me, so I would always try to remember every detail of books that I'd read at the library. That way when the younger foster kids wanted a bed time story, I would be the one to tell them a story. I only ever read some of those old fairytale characters for other foster kids. Although I didn't believe in magic or hope much anymore, I didn't think it was fair that the younger kids didn't have something good to dream about when the days got hard. Having photographic memory has helped me keep a high GPA up despite constantly switching schools and moving around.

"All right everyone it's good to see you, and I hope everyone is having a good morning" Mr. Freeman stands up from his desk once the last student came running in and the seats were finally full. "As I'm sure you all are aware, we have some special guest that will be joining us today. They'll will be telling us about their history, some of it maybe about magic and spells, some about other realms and so much more. You'll need to pay close attention if you hope to get that 100%. Remember in order to win that week vacation on Storybrooke Island, you'll have to get a 100% on all the exams you'll be taking today. I wish you all good luck, and whether or not you win I do hope you enjoy the wonderful tales you get to hear about today, and hopefully you will all get to learn something from the immortal fairytale characters"

Everyone watched with hawk eyes as Mr. Freeman walked over to class room door and he slightly opens it. "Snow White, Regina, the class is ready for you"

Everyone started to cheer and scream before the two ladies even stepped into the classroom. I sighed, this was going to be a long day. But I couldn't help but think about how pissed my foster sister would be if I actually did win this contest. I've never had a vacation before. I think I really will try to get those 100s. Whenever I decided I really want 100 on a test, 95% of the time it was pretty much a guarantee that I would get that 100. Vacation here I come!


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Hey just wanted to inform you guys who thought I stole this story from Deadly Stormfly, I did not. Deadly Stormfly put their story 'Home' up for adoption and I adopted it. I would love your reviews and any negative reviews anybody has can keep their comments to themselves.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: i have to thank my beta Mint18 for writing this chapter and helping me with my story.**

Third class. Third test. Snow White and Regina's tale and Cinderella's tale had been a breeze. So far so good and 100%. My results had spread through the school like wildfire and no one who talked to me could understand why I bothered, I'd never cared about fairy tale characters in the past and hell my current attire proved I still didn't. But somehow proving how smart I am had become a matter of pride, no one in this school had cared about me or noticed me at all before today, now I had their full attention. And no matter what the topic I was going to prove I was the best student in this school. Neal was right, I had this one in the bag and whether I cared about fairy tale characters or not I was going to win.

This time the story is Peter Pan. Turns out our childhood hero wasn't all that heroic after all. This twisted version of our childhood fairy tale was introduced to us by none other than Captain Hook himself and apparently he's the good guy. I have to admit his story is the most interesting I've heard today and not only because it varies so much from the original but because of the lonely boy who is telling it. A lost boy who unfortunate circumstances turned into a villain and created a hell of a climb back up. No I'm not talking about Pan, if this story is to be believed, there's no redeeming him. This is the first story that has me wanting to win for myself and not just to prove how good I am. Suddenly winning sound that much more appealing, I want to understand Killian Jones better.

He catches me staring at him as I hand in my exam paper but instead of looking away he holds my gaze, there's a challenge written in those blue eyes as if I've inadvertently started a staring competition. Then without any warning something changes and a flash of pain registers across his face as he looks away, but I catch something else as he determinately stare at the floor and it looks like, recognition? It can't be of course, he might be a fairy tale character but that doesn't mean that they're above the law, just look at what happened to Rumpelstiltskin or the Beast or the Dark One, whichever name you prefer. There are still repercussions if they break the law and I can imagine Captain Hook doesn't want to have to explain to law enforcement officers why he was staring at a 13 year old girl.

'How are you doing this?!' It's Megan of course. 'That's your third 100%! It's not fair you don't even like fairy tale characters! How is it that you know so much stuff about them?'

'Because I listened and put those skills I've learnt to the test. Maybe you'd be doing better Megan if you spent more time listening and less time fangirling.' She's shocked of course by my harsh words but I haven't got time for my suck-up of a foster sister. I want to win this stupid competition and get the hell out of this place.

'You're being so selfish Emma! I love these characters, they're my entire life! They mean a lot to so many people in this school and you're taking away our only chance of winning a once in a life time opportunity!' Me, selfish? This from the girl who thinks of no one but herself when it comes to our foster parents and our home? I think I might be seeing red.

'How could you even think about saying something like that to me Megan? You have everything! You're popular and pretty and you'll most definitely be adopted by our foster parents and then you'll have a home! Isn't all that better than fairy tale land? It's real and it's beautiful and it means you're loved! Let go of fairy tale land you'll be much happier!' I storm away, I can't face her anymore, tears are already threatening to start streaming down my face and I won't give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

She couldn't be right though could she? That it's selfish of me to take this opportunity away from someone who it would mean a lot more too? Someone who could never afford the exorbitant fees that come with fairy tale camp? I don't know. But I have five minutes to decide whether to bomb out or not. This is my opportunity to prove myself to everyone in this school but does it really matter when I'll just be forced to move to a different one in a couple of weeks/months?

Where's Neal when I need him? Probably acing another test somewhere, but what I wouldn't give for a little guidance from someone right now…

'Everything alright lass?' Well, well if it isn't Captain Hook himself and that's still seriously weird to say… Wait did he follow me? I'm guessing he did and by now he can see the tears on my very blotchy face and clearly knows that the answer is no so I just glare at him. Fairy tale character or not it's still a stupid question and I answer it with a glare through my tears.

Surprisingly he laughs, 'well aren't you a fierce one? Can I be of some service to you before we are swept away by a large group of jealous girls who deem themselves more worthy of my attention?'

Well Captain Hook wasn't exactly who I meant when I said I needed guidance but he's right its take it or leave and honestly I'm surprised he hasn't been swept away by fangirls already.

'I'm trying to decide whether to drop out of your competition or not. I'm not the biggest of fairy tale fans and my foster sister thinks I'm being selfish if I continue to stay in the competition.' The look on his face suggests this is not the problem he expected. I wonder suddenly how many people he's offered to help in his long life and whether all their issues have been as trivial as mine.

'Lass it sounds to me like you could use a break from all of this and I'm sure Snow would be delighted to have someone as talented as you on the island. I watched you take that last exam Swan and you didn't even break a sweat, I've not seen many people like that before. Would you at least think about continuing despite your sister's objections?'

I'm speechless. Captain Hook of all people seems to care. How strange. I'm about to ask him why he cares so much but his fangirls have arrived.

'One last thing lass,' he throws over his shoulder as he's swept away, 'you may not be our biggest supporter, but I was too had an orphaned childhood and I think you'll find we have more in common than you realize.'

Well that was cryptic.

I'm thrown nasty glares from over various girls shoulders as I head to my next class, apparently word has got out that not only am I acing all my test but now I'm the apparently very good looking Captain's favorite. Oh how much fun the rest of the day is going to be, I think.

Despite my reservations and the determination of my foster sister, I decide to stay in the competition and by the end of 7th I've also met Pinocchio, Mulan and Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel. The rest of the day is reserved for the ceremony of awarding the winner with the prize, a couple of other fairy tale guest speakers and a thank you ceremony led by our school principal.

I zone out throughout the Mad Hatter and Wil Scarlett's talks. As interesting as fairy tale characters are all anyone wants to know is who the winner is. As far as I can narrow it down, the prize will come down to me, Neal (despite his lack of confidence in himself in the library this morning) and another Brainiac in one of the lower levels.

A hush falls over everyone as Snow White and Regina mount the stage. This is it, the moment of truth, sure if I get it I'll be hated instead of going back to being invisible but I can live with that, I won't be around much longer anyway.

'Our winner today has shown an incredible amount of determination, initiative and intelligence and we are thrilled to offer them a week-long stay on our island. But first let me thank all of you for participating and those of you wonderful students also came close to claiming our prize…' Snow drones on listing a number of people with marks in the high 90's. Both of the people I had assumed were my main competition are listed among and surprisingly so is Megan. So that must mean…

Regina steps forward, 'But today with 100% on all her tests our winner is…. Emma Swan!'

There is complete silence. Not a single person claps or cheers. Not even the teachers. I rise from my seat and run down the stairs, straight past the podium and out the still open door. Well I got my island holiday. Yay! Unfortunately it may be the end of my already meagre social standing, not mention there's no way my foster sister will speak to me ever again.

I know someone's following I can hear the echoing footsteps as I run blindly through the school corridors hoping to come across and exit. Instead I trip and end up on my face on the threshold of one of the science labs. The footsteps are nearer ow and I know they're not going to leave me alone so I stay where I am and wait for them to find me. Snow White, Regina and my Principal are all staring down at my crumpled form. My principle just looks annoyed, Snow and Regina however look at me with concern.

Gently I'm lifted to my feet and escorted to the principal's office around the corner, I don't notice if people are staring at and pay no attention at all to my surroundings. I feel numb and my breathing sounds labored even to me in my newly constructed bubble.

I think there's an argument going on around me, there sure seems to be a lot of raised voices anyway. Eventually the principal leaves the room and I am left alone with Snow and Regina. I wonder how many girls would kill to be in the same position as me right now.


End file.
